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Political
organizations in Trinidad
and Tobago began in the
1930s, with the formation
of labour movements.
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• The
people and customs of
Trinidad and Tobago are
the products of a very
fertile and layered mix
of race, religion, class,
and culture.
• Descendants
of Amerindians, East
Indians, Africans,
British, Spanish, French,
Syrians, Portuguese, and
Chinese among others, all
live in harmony. Each
group has it own
religious and cultural
festivities that are
enjoyed by all,
regardless of ethnicity
or religion.
• In 1956, the
People’s National
Movement (PNM) was
founded by Dr Eric
Williams, it dominated
local politics until his
death in 1981. Control of
the Legislative Council,
under new constitutional
arrangements provided for
self-government with Eric
Williams as the first
Chief Minister.
• The country
became an independent
member of the
Commonwealth on 31 August
1962, and became a
republic within the
Commonwealth on 1st.
August 1976.
• Dr Eric Williams
remained Prime Minister
with primarily African
ethnic support.
Opposition parties then
were supported mainly by
the Indian minority.
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| Eric Williams
1911-81 |
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ANR Robinson
Prime
Minister 1986
President
1997 |
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• With political parties
supported along lines of race,
elections were perceived as a
struggle for African or Indian
preeminence. Differences in
ancestral cultural values -
disarrayed in the African
dominant in the Indian were until
recently confrontational.
• The ethnic groups that
make up the population of
Trinidad and Tobago all arrived,
under different circumstances and
for different reasons and roles.
• In 1986, the National
Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR)
ended 30 year rule of the PNM by
winning 33 of the 36
parliamentary seats in a general
election.
• A N R Robinson of the
NAR became Prime Minister but was
soon unpopular because of his
economic policies to reduce
public sector and other expenses.
• General elections in
1991 returned the PNM under
Patrick Manning to power.
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Several political
parties emerged:
1989 - The United National Congress
(UNC), led by former Deputy Prime
Minister, Basdeo Panday.
1993 - The National Development Party
(NDP), led by Carson Charles.
1994 - The Movement for Unity and
Progress (MUP), led by former UNC MP,
Hulsie Bhaggan.
1993 - The Republic Party (RP) led by
Nello Mitchell, a former PNM general
secretary.
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• The PNM was
removed from power
in 1996, when Manning gambled
with early elections and lost to
the alliance of the NAR and the
UNC led Basdeo Panday, a lawyer,
a trade union leader and the
first head of government of East
Indian descent.
• Greater autonomy for
Tobago was contemplated as a
result of the of the NAR / UNC
alliance. The NAR being Tobago
grounded was thought to be now
able to participate in a national
government
• A bill to amend the
constitution allowing a
constitutional role for the
Tobago House of Assembly (THA),
was passed. The THA was now which
will now be responsible Tobago's
departments of education and
statistics, state lands, town and
country planning, customs and
excise and housing.
• In the 1996 elections
for the Tobago House of Assembly,
the NAR retained 10 seats, the
PNM one and an independent one.
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Basdeo Panday
Prime
Minister 1996 |
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In 1996 Mr. ANR
Robinson leader of the NAR was elected as
the President of the Republic, succeeding
retiring Noor Hassanali. His seat in the
House of Representatives therefore became
vacant. A by-election for this seat was
won by the NAR, but the second NAR Tobago
seat was lost to the NAR when the holder
defected and became an independent.
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The
Tobago Assembly, however, does
not have legislative powers.
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